burning stars ⁕ k kogane
by ya-boi-hiraeth5
Summary: " please, help us " ⁕ it was supposed to be a simple mission, get in then get out. but what the red paladin finds behind the last prisoner cell may end up meaning more to him that what he previously thought. ⁕ i own no rights to any of the characters from voltron: legendary defenders; with that said, i do own the obvious oc's used within the plot.
1. ⁕ chapter ø ⁕

_**"** please just save me_  
 _from this darkness **"**_

 **. . .**

the ship rattled like a tin can after its thrown off its shelf; sending all its contents flying towards the cold, purple lit walls of the corridor. slowly, the winded paladin in red gets up from his worn knees, stabilizing himself with the support of the enemy's walls.

"just one more Keith," a hoarse, but feminine voice whispers through the intercom, sending a sense of accomplishment along with it. "hey, you got a group of sentries coming on your six."

quickly, Keith scans his peripheral and with the help of his jet pack, he takes his cover above the corridor, on a small overhang. using extreme caution, the red paladin leans over the ledge just enough to get a glimpse of the set of three sentries heading to his destination.

with a loud battle cry, Keith jumps from his hideout and takes his sword to the head of the third sentry, letting it collapse in a heap of titanium and wires. "one sentry down, two to go." Keith motivates himself as his salvaged adrenaline kicks into his bloodstream.

within mere ticks, the red armored teen slashed his bayard into the last chest of his robotic competitor, allowing bursts of electricity to illuminate the darkened hallways.

"great work - Keith." the black paladin, Shiro, praises in between grunts.

before he replies with a voice of glory, Keith places his right hand on the digital scanner that has kept these prisoners locked away for God knows how long, "unlocking and bringing the last prisoners to the escape pods."

the heavy cell doors give way with a slight whine of defeat, or hope - he couldn't tell which - revealing the blood-stained insides of cell #2KB. Keith shades his eyes with the crook of his arm as he lights up the cells walls with his handy-dandy wrist-light.

"i am the red paladin of voltron, i bring peace and hope," the teen slowly walks through the cell doors and shines his light on the four corners of the walls. "hello, i am here to help. is anyone in here?" with one last look around the cell, Keith breaths in and let's out a defeated sigh. "Guys, there's no-"

a quiet, war-stricken voice whispers from the confinement's of the left corner of the room, cutting off Keith's depressed words.

 _"please, save us."_

 **.**

 **hello bean sprouts!**  
 **i hate to leave a chapter like this, it's much shorter than i would have liked, but this felt like a logical place to stop. i mean, this is only a prologue!** ッ

 **ciao!**  
 _( °_ ٢ _° )_


	2. ⁕ chapter 1 ⁕

_**"** a single thread of hope_  
 _is still a powerful thing **"**_

 **. . .**

 _"please, save us."_

it was as if the voice came out of nowhere, allowing a slight shiver to crawl down Keith's spine. with caution in his step, Keith retracts his bayard and walks towards the frightened whispers.

 _"don't be frightened, Dex;_ 구조자 _, Gujoja is here."_ the being in the shadows whispers to the character, Dex, engulfed in a sea of darkness.

Keith flashes his wrist-light towards the voices once more, sending the darkness scurry away in fear, revealing the worn out faces of two young children.

 _oh my god._

the red paladin takes a knee, leveling his eyes to the heights of the two children. Keith takes a minute to observe the two frightened beings in front of him, taking in their obvious features with eyes of sadness and confusion.

in front of him sits to young galran cubs, he presumes the ages of 10 and 4. the eldest, a bruised and broken girl sits on her bloody knees and holds, what Keith presumes, her immediate relative. taking his eyes of the young girl, his heart breaks as he peers into the war-stricken, yellow orbs of the young boy, only imagining the terrors these young eyes have seen.

"don't worry, i'll get you out of here."

the sound of gunshots and explosions echo in the threes' ears as Keith guides them through the maze of hallways, sparing any sentry that stands a chance against the paladin of instinct.

Keith let's out a audible grunt as he slashes the head of an approaching sentry, "i got the last prisoners. i'm heading to red as we speak." Keith's voice echoes through the comms of his fellow paladins, "great work, Keith, we'll meet you — rgh — outside." the paladin in black states through gritted teeth.

with a single wave of a hand, Keith disables his bayard and sweeps up the youngest galran, while clutching the callused hand of the eldest with dear life.

"hang on guys, just a little further."

Keith slices through the last pairs of sentries with a vengeance that he's never felt before, he lets an echoing grunt escape his bloody lips.

in a victorious response to Keith's cry, the red lion lets out a mighty roar, causing the once small gaping hole in the exterior of the ship to crumble like clay. and with one last rush of adrenaline, the red armored _Gujoja_ jet packs into the jaws of his _leo_.

 _"your free now."_

 **. . .**

 **구조자**  
 **gujoja**

 **savior**

 **.**

 **okay, i need to stop writing such short chapters ... but on the other hand, i feel it suits the book better. plus it allows me and makes me update more then i usually would!**

 **anyway, thank you for reading, i hope your enjoying it so far! don't forget to drop a vote and/or comment, i'd love to hear from you!**

 **smell ya later!**  
ت

 **ps;** **구조자** _ **, gujoja**_ **is** _ **savior**_ **in korean. i used google tanslate so oops, sorry if it's not correct!**


	3. ⁕ chapter 2 ⁕

_**"** she's living proof that_  
 _you can walk through hell_  
 _and still be an angel **"**_

 **. . .**

a tired bunch of paladins stands in an ocean of silence as they wait for their red armored comrade. Pidge, the green paladin and the shortest, slowly breaths in the silence and then let's it all out with a loud puff, shattering the once _peaceful_ quiet.

"welp, i'm tired of waiting, let me know when Keith gets his lazy ass outta there." she says, placing her hand on Shiro's heaving shoulders with slight complications due to the height differential, and takes her stride out the hanger doors.

"language." the adult of the group states using his oh so familiar 'parental tone', but doesn't stop the green teen from slipping away to God knows where.

now down to only three, the group gets a little more antsy. small grunts of agitation escape Lance's enclosed lips, while loud grumbles from Hunk's hungry stomach fracture the silence once more.

"okay, that's it. i'm going in and dragging his ass out of there whether he likes it, or not." the blue armored paladin states as he moves his crossed arms to his sides, fists clenched in frustration.

just as Lance beings to bring his enclosed fists to the giant lions muzzle, she let's out a bellowing grumble, making the blue teen jump back a few steps. with the little extra space, the mighty leo's worn jaws open to reveal more than what the group of defenders were expecting.

"w-w-wha, Keith what or _who_ is that?" Lance asks for all three of the waiting paladins. just to clarify that his eyes aren't deceiving him, he frantically rubs his ocean blue eyes.

in front of them stands a disheveled, worn out red paladin, cradling a young galran child that could have been mistaken for a human if it weren't for the purple catlike ears that protruded out of the young ones head, and don't forget the lionlike tail that's tethered around Keith's forearm.

and that's not all that threw the group of three in a loop, because cowering right behind Keith stood another alien child. although this one doesn't look much different than the rest of the galran the young team of warriors have faced.

"Keith, h-how?" the born leader in black makes out in a stutter.

"these two were both in the last prisoner cell. i-i brought them with me because, because they need medical attention. if they would have went with the others-" Keith rambles, adjusting his grin on the young Dex before he is cut of by his brother-figure.

"Keith, you did the right thing." he reassures the stressed red paladin with a warm smile. "Hunk, can you tell Allura that we are going to need, um, three healing pods ready?" Without needing to think twice, Hunk scurries out of the hanger bay without a reply.

out of nowhere, a weak voice makes out an almost inaudible question, sending two out of the three's eyebrows to raise higher than the other, "우리를 어디, ulileul eodi?" but the even more absurd response that came out of the red paladins mouth made them question their ears like they did their eyes, "당신 금고, 지금 당신은 볼트론에 있어요, dangsin geumgo, jigeum dangsin-eun bolteulon-e iss-eoyo."

"they're so young," Lance began as he slowly walked up towards Keith, gaining a better glimpse of the two extraterrestrial children, "w-why would the the galra empire imprison this young of children, let alone their _own race_?"

"honestly, it makes no sense." Keith replies in discomfort as he once again adjusts his hold of the young ones position in his arms.

Lance, displeased in the mess that is his fellow paladin, he clicks his tongue and holds out his arms only to be returned with a quite puzzled look on the red teen's face. "for the love of stuffed crust, do you want me to hold the little guy, you seem really uncomfortable there." and without a single word, well, a few unspoken rebuttals from the youngster, Keith gladly passes on the duty of cradling before the three head of to the infirmary.

although the bunch of colored warriors were worried that the news of two unknown galran citizens onboard would set Allura's rage from 5 to 1000 in mere tics, their troubled worries were for nothing. the way Allura welcomed the two new members was a little jaw dropping for the onlooking paladins, none say the least.

" _of course_ i would have helped them, why did you three presume i wouldn't?" Allura asks obliviously with her arms bound across their chest.

"we _lll_ ," Lance begins with the slightest hesitation, "it's not that we didn't _think_ you would help them, it's just you didn't react the greatest when you found out that Keith was part galra and stuff..." his rubs the back of his neck in either fear or nervousness, "no offense, Allura."

Allura mouths an 'oh' as a light dusting of pink roses her checks in embarrassment. "i see," she rubs her neck, "Keith, you rescued them, do you know anything about the two?"

Keith ponders about Allura's question for a tick of two, trying to think hard about the few exchanges of words between the three of them, "um, not really. what i do know is that the youngest, over there, his name is Dex. i don't recall hearing the other's name though. oh, and they speak a form of korean, but they also know english...so,"

"that makes sense, the galra are known for their bilingual tendencies. if i'm not wrong, your earth korean is their native tongue," Allura states a matter-of-factly. Keith nods in understanding before taking his glance off of the princess in front of him and focuses it over her shoulders to the two strangers soundlessly sleeping. A slender but firm hand grips his shoulders before he begins to overthink their current situation, "Keith, they should be out in a few days, mkay?"

Keith slowly in understanding nods his head and relaxes his shoulders under Allura's touch.

something tells him that those _few days_ are going to feel more like a _few months_.

 **. . .**

우리를 어디  
ulileul eodi

where are we?

 **.**

당신 금고,  
지금 당신은  
볼트론에 있어요  
dangsin geumgo,  
jigeum dangsin-eun  
bolteulon-e iss-eoyo

your safe, you're with voltron now.

 **.**

 **good evening/morning/afternoon** **my fellow muchachos!**

 **it's currently 1:30** _ **ish**_ **AM where i am right now, but i haven't been able to write till now.**

 **why is it that i'm always motivated to write** _ **early**_ **in the morning?**

 **anyway! i hope you enjoyed this much longer chapter, the juicy stuff is coming soon don't worry!**

 **until next time,**

 **lights out!**  
:)


	4. ⁕ chapter 3 ⁕

**"** these nightmares wrap their evil hands  
around my soul at night, they try to pull me deep within a world that's ruled in fright.  
these dark thoughts may follow me but they'll  
never win the fight. I'll escape  
the looming shadows with the help of  
dawn's first light. **"**

 **. . .**

her eyes shoot open, glazed over with pain and fear. a pained scream begins to well up in her throat; _don't scream, you'll just make it worse._ but without her consent, her bloodcurdling scream bounces off the walls in an unstoppable echo.

her young life flashed before her eyes as she's poked and prodded by the group of druids for the thousandth time since her imprisonment. tears start to well up in her eyes as she sees the aged face of her papa once more. the stories he would tell her to lull her back to sleep after her reoccurring night tremors.

"아빠, appa, where are you? _"_ she ask to her memories, coughing as she cries for her papa.

her ears subconsciously move to the direction of the muffled voices around her, flattening at the cursed name 'Haggar'. her once silent cries go against her will and become strained sobs.

"please, make it stop. please, i beg of you!" she screams in agony the more she's prodded with God knows what. the restraints around her boney wrists seem to tighten as she fights for her life.

suddenly, the shocking pain ceases to stop abruptly, sending a shiver to crawl its way down her numb spine. although she knows this means no good, she prays to any god or higher being that the druids stopping means the end to her suffering.

a sickening cackle is heard from the end of the experimentation lab, twisting the young galra's insides in a wave of nervousness. "oh, but experiment #59F, it's only the beginning."

the galran's pained eyes grow wide in fear as she sees the electrifying orb rapidly growing in the witch Haggar's palm.

she painfully screams on last time before she's awaken by the rush of cool air against her sweat stained face.

 **. . .**

 **아빠**  
 **appa**  
 **_**  
 **papa/dad**

 **what's up my fellow** _ **fan**_ **atics?**

 **i apologize about this chapter, i feel it could have been better, but what can you do when your watch Jurassic World while writing?**  
┐( ˘_˘)┌

 **welp, i hope you are enjoying this novel so far. i have a lot planned out for this fanfiction and i am excited to see where it goes!**

 **don't forget to vote and comment, it would mean the world to me!**

 **bye!**  
≧◡≦


	5. ⁕ chapter 4 ⁕

**"** i'm here, your safe now. it's okay to remember. they can never  
hurt you again. **"**

 **. . .**

Keith sits in silence on the cold floor of the castle-ship's infirmary, fighting to keep his eyes from being succumbed by the inevitable darkness of sleep. he lets out a tired sigh as he picks at his nails, a habit he picked up when he was stressed as a child.

it's been four days, _four days,_ since Keith saved them from the evil clutches of the galra empire. he would have thought that they would have been healed by now.

"they've been in there for _so_ long." the tired teen mumbles under his breath as he readjusts his posture, now resting his chin on the palm of his right hand.

"what did you say?" a questioning voice asks, stirring Keith from his thoughts.

the teen turns his head to face the unnerving sincere face of his fellow 'rival'. before he can reply, Keith shutters from the sudden cold chill that wraps around his bones, "they've just been in there for so long, Lance," Keith sighs as he turns his attention back to the young children in front of him.

"your really worried about them aren't you?" Lance walks over to the red paladin and stops when he's standing right about him.

"i know, and that's the thing," Keith says as he throws his hands up in surrender, groaning at the weird, unnameable feeling he has for these to aliens. "its, it's like something, _deep_ down inside me is telling me to protect them with my life," he takes a glance at his friend in understanding but gets a returned look of confusion and concern. "i know it may sound strange, crazy even, but it's like some, some _instinct_ is making me feel this tug towards these two."

Lance slowly nods and taps his chin with his index finger, "hmm, maybe - do you think these _strange_ feels could be because of your galra side?"

"maybe?" Keith replies softly as he glances towards his feet, his eyes slowly begin to close without his consent.

"here," Lance says as he drapes a soft fabric over Keith's tired shoulders. Keith thanks him with a soft smile and returns to his tired gaze. "you need to get some rest, Keith. You've barely sleep since we got back from our battle."

"i've tried, Lance, but every time-"

"you get woken up by your sixth sense?" Keith lets out a weak laugh at Lance's comical explication. "fine, if your not going to sleep, can i at least keep you company?" Keith nods at Lance's request and carefully, without moving the sleepy teen around to much, Lance sits on the cool surface beside his teammate.

"your acting just as weird as i am, Lance." Keith chuckles as he rests his head on the blue paladin's broad shoulder.

Lance chuckles at Keith's sudden action, "g'night samari~"

"night Lance~" Keith slurs as he lets sleep take over all _six_ of his scenes.

 **.**

deep, sleepy purple eyes fluttered open, trying to focus in on their surroundings. Keith sits up from his sleeping position and let's out an exhausted yawn, rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes.

"good morning La-LANCE?!" the red paladin shrieked at the sight of a sleepy blue paladin laying next to him.

"cinco minutos más, mamá." the cuban asks as he waves Keith off, slowly falling back to sleep but his eyes shoot open as he realizes where we is and _who's_ with him. "well good morning Keef~" Lance says with his classic shit eating grin, his spanish accent thick.

Keith shutters at the many thoughts that are playing through his mind, "did we - i can't believe - _shut up gay thoughts."_ Keith mumbles to himself and he places his head in his hand, pink dusting his cheeks and ears.

"chill out Keith," Lance begins. he sits up and runs his hands through his luscious locks of caramel colored hair, "it's not like we didn't anything _bad_ ~"

"ya, because spooning your _teammate_ isn't _bad_." Keith mocks, crossing his arms across his chest.

"aren't you _gay_ though?" Lance asks.

"that's besides the point Lance!" the blue paladin laughs at Keith's flustered comment, noticing the deep red across his cheeks.

 _shut up bi thoughts._

the two paladins are snatched from their comical flusters and gay _ish_ thoughts as a heavy breeze of chilled air floats over them. Keith perks up at the sound of the healing pod door descending to the ground. Keith pushes himself off the ground, with the help of Lance's _strong_ shoulders and rushes to catch the eldest of the two children.

"아빠, appa?" the young girl sobs into Keith's embrace.

"shh, it's okay, your safe, with voltron." the red teen runs his fingers through the young child's hair, slowing her sobs until they're short wheezes.

the young galra tightens her grip on her saviors shirt, clutching him as if he'll disappear and leave her alone once more. "he's gone isn't he? my papa's gone."

Keith's body goes numb at the three words that roll off her tongue, causing the strange pull to protecting her to blossoms into something he feels he wouldn't be able to control.

he is not going to let these strangers go through the same lonesome life he did, they've already been through so much.

"wait, where's Dex? Dex!" the youngling's eyes grow wide as she looks around frantically for the other. "no, _no,_ he can't be gone! i-i promised, _promised_ his mama that i'd _protect_ him!" she cries as she breaks free of Keith's grip, shakily falling to her knees as she weeps the lose of her comrade.

Keith's heart breaks in two at the sight of this broken girl, already far beyond repair. he cautiously knees down to her level, grabbing her meek hands in his strong palms, rubbing circles on the tops of them, trying his best to cease the storm of tears. "it's okay, Dex is fine. he's just healing, he'll-" the red teen looks over his shoulders at Lance's torn face, his hand hovering over his mouth, fighting to keep the threatening tears inside him. "Dex, will be out of the healing pod, over there, in a quintent or two, okay?"

the sobbing girl nods in understanding as she looks over in the direction of the sleeping Dex, her tears stop flowing and her chapped lips turn up in a soft smile. her ears fall along side her head at the sudden warmth on her cheek, turning to see the red paladin wiping her tears off her short purple fur.

"what's your name, sweetie?" a blue paladin asks softly, crouching down until he's eye level with the galra.

"Zodiac," the girl whispers as she wipes the remaining tears off her face, " _my name is Zodiac_."

 **. . .**

 **아빠**  
 **appa**  
 **_**  
 **papa/dad**  
 **.**  
 **cinco minutos**  
 **más, mamá**  
 **_**  
 **five more minutes, mom**

 **hello my bean sprouts!**  
 **i'm not lying when i say i was on the verge of crying while writing this. i kinda get emotional when i write this much...could you call it 'angst'?**

 **but ya, i really like how cute this chapter came out, and those subtitle Klance hints because i simply have no self control! haha!**  
~(o.O)~

 **whale, i hope you enjoyed this** _ **long**_ **chapter, and are excited to learn more about Zodiac and Dex, because i sure am!**

 **thank you so much for read, don't forget to like, comment and vote!**

 **adios!**  
^ • ^


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